at Smock Alley resulted in rapid decline of audience numbers at Crow Street and in 1782, unable to pay his actors, Thomas Ryder withdrew from theatrical management and joined Daly's company of players. Thomas Crawford briefly struggled to keep Crow Street alive, but in 1783 Mrs Crawford sold her interest in the establishment to Daly in exchange for a lifetime annuity of £100 and an indemnity against certain liabilities, and she afterwards also performed at Smock Alley. In 1781 Daly had bought leases of theatres in Cork and Limerick and somewhat later he took possession of those in Newry and Drogheda, all of which he fed with touring parties from his Dublin company. By 1785 he was negotiating a lease of Waterford Theatre and had control of the Opera House in Dublin's Capel Street which had briefly flourished under the direction of Tommaso Giordani. From 1785 onward Daly employed Giordani as his musical composer and John Moorehead to work under him. The sovereign position Daly achieved in Irish theatre inspired references to him as "His Majesty of Smock Alley", "the Monarch" and "King Daly", and in November 1786 he was granted a Royal patent to stage theatrical performances in Dublin during the next fourteen years. The exclusive right to grant such patent had been vested in the Crown by the Dublin Stage Regulation Act of that year, which had been openly promoted in Daly's favour and cancelled the licensing authority previously exercised by Dublin's Lord Mayor. The patent also brought Daly appointment as Deputy Master of the Revels in Ireland. Daly's acquisition of the patent has been attributed to his favour with the Duke of Rutland. Appointed Viceroy of Ireland in 1784, the Duke had quickly attracted animosity by remarks he made when receiving a petition addressed to George III. He was hissed from every part of the house on entering Smock Alley Theatre for a command performance and was grateful for Daly's intervention on his behalf. The two are said to have become "intimate friends" but, while Rutland's influence may have been helpful, passage of the Stage Regulation Act required support from a wider constituency. Francis Higgins' network of connections may have been key in this respect, and in 1789 it was alleged that Daly and Higgins secretly shared the benefit of the patent. Transfer to Crow Street At the end of 1787 Daly closed Smock Alley Theatre (which